Natural
by Bellarsam Chrisjulittle
Summary: A sweet one-shot about the best television romance I have ever seen. My first Downton fanfic so please don't be too harsh if some of the chronological details are off!


**Natural**

"_J__ust once in my life, I'd like to sleep 'til I woke up natural."_

_- Anna, _Downton Abbey _S01E01_

Anna had never been what one would call a "morning person." Unfortunately, being the head housemaid and soon-to-be ladies maid, this was not a good thing. It did not matter that Anna had been getting up at the crack of dawn for years nearly every day – she always felt she had not slept enough. Her first minutes awake every day were spent wishing she could just drift back to sleep, if only for a few more minutes, until she felt truly refreshed and ready to get up. But she very rarely was able to. Fortunately, with her job, she had learned to only let this feeling last for a mere few seconds before forcing herself to get out of bed.

The same could not be said for John Bates. He had been a morning person since he was very young, but after the war, his sleeping habits changed drastically, and not for the better. He became prone to vivid nightmares of that terrible time, waking up in a cold sweat, even screaming at times. Only drinking could dull the nightmares, if not eliminate them completely. In prison, serving time for the theft Vera had committed, John had made a resolution to better himself, to work hard and be a better man. Thankfully, by the time he had stopped drinking, the nightmares – though still reoccurring – were not nearly as bad as they had been when they had first began.

Then, John and Anna had found each other. A connection had been made between them from the first moment they had met, and their sleeping patterns had altered subtly. Anna found it easier to get up in the morning, knowing that she would be seeing him that day. John found the nightmares becoming less and less frequent, and being replaced with much more pleasant dreams of her.

Over the last eight years, as their circumstances changed and their relationship evolved, so did their sleeping patterns. They improved when together, and grew worse in times apart. But both knew, deep in their hearts, that they would have a true good night's sleep only if they shared a bed together. This theory had proven correct when they finally became man and wife, and, thanks to Lady Mary, were able to spend their wedding night together. Granted, neither of them got more than a few hours of sleep that night (they found much more exciting things to do), but both had woken up with a new sense of completion and peace. It didn't matter to them that they would have to wait for a little while before they could share a bed again, but neither of them minded much, knowing that they had the rest of their lives to spend, as man and wife, together.

Unfortunately. that little while had turned into sixteen months, while John had been wrongfully imprisoned for his wife's death. Those months had been the most difficult in both of their lives, plagued with the horrible fear that their life together would become an unattainable dream once again. However, thanks to Anna's refusal to give up on her husband and the support of the Crawley family, new evidence came to light that proved John's innocence, and he was released.

The morning he was released, when they had finally been able to kiss and hold each other again after so long, had been the happiest moment in both of their lives. Not even their wedding day could compare; then, a dark cloud of fear and uncertainty had hung over them both, and unfortunately stormed over them both. Now, that storm cloud was gone and their skies were clear. They were together now, and they would make sure they stayed that way.

John had been given back his position as valet to the Earl of Grantham, and within a week of his release, the cottage his lordship had promised John and Anna once they were married was ready to be moved into. The couple had also been given a week off to make their cottage a home – and spend the time together they had been long overdue to spend.

On their first night in their cottage – also their first night together since that wedding night over a year ago – John and Anna left Downton after their day of work. Their hands were joined, and they took their time despite wanting to start their very belated honeymoon. John's time in prison had taught them both to never take anything as simple as holding hands and walking together for granted.

When their cottage came into view, both of them stopped and looked at it. Anna squeezed her husband's hand, telling herself that this was real and not a dream. John understood her gesture and returned it. The two faced each other, and John smiled at her, the excitement in his eyes glowing. "Are you ready, Mrs. Bates?"

Anna smiled back, her own joy reflected in her own eyes, not only from being called her married name, but also because she understood all her husband meant in that simple question. "I've been ready for longer than I care to say, Mr. Bates," she replied lightly, but John knew it came from her heart.

As fresh emotion filled her eyes, John stepped closer to her and rested her head over his heart, holding her to him and kissing her forehead.

After a moment in which Anna collected herself, she said quietly against the fabric of his jacket. "John, would you…never mind."

But John was not fooled. He put a finger under her chin, lifting her face so he could meet her eyes. "You know I would do anything for you, Anna. Don't be afraid to ask me, whatever it may be."

Anna found courage in her husband's loving gaze, and took a deep breath before speaking. "I would just…I have a request, of sorts…I know it will sound sentimental, but…"

John had to fight the urge to chuckle. Anna was a quiet and reserved woman by nature, but it was rare to see her shy. The only other time Bates had ever seen her so shy was their wedding night, and thankfully it hadn't lasted long. He had once told her that he thought he would love her however, whatever, whenever, and he meant it. So seeing another side of his Anna only made him love her all the more. "Yes?" he gently prompted her.

"In the morning…don't wake me up. I want to wake up natural…and I want you to be there when I do," she finally managed to say, forcing herself not to avert her gaze. Though the age difference between the two had never bothered Anna, she was loathe to say anything to her husband that would remind him of that difference. But Anna needed to ask this, needed one of her most tantalizing dreams to come true when it was within their power to make it come true after so long.

Thankfully, John's response was to smile, touch her flushed cheek, and whispered, "Of course I will.

X

John stayed true to his word.

Their reunion that night in their new home was one of those times in a couple's life that a veil is drawn over out of purest respect for purest love. As the French author Victor Hugo penned, it is moments like this in which the couple's house becomes a temple, with an angel standing at the door with a finger over her smiling lips, a gentle reminder that this is a place we are not to disturb now.

Thankfully, this angel left its post when the sun rose in the east. The bedroom of the cottage was not as neat as it had been when the couple had first arrived the previous evening. Clothes were strewn all across the floor, and crumpled bed sheets just barely covered the naked couple, who slept very close to each other. Being together again meant both slept soundly and peacefully. John had no nightmares, and Anna felt safe in her husband's unconscious embrace.

Being a morning person, John woke first, when the sun was beginning to rise and sunlight first came into the room. He felt refreshed and completely content for the first time in over a year. In prison, he did not sleep unless he absolutely had to; always he had to be on the watch in that place, never relax, never let his guard down. But when he felt he just couldn't resist sleep anymore, the only way he could finally succumb to it was to think of Anna, and that the night they had shared together. The peeling away of the nervous layers on both of them, the lovemaking that quickly grew from hesitant to passionate, the afterglow in which both of them knew that their hearts would never part, blissfully unaware of what would come just a few days later. Often he dreamed of that night, and so often he woke up forgetting it was only a dream and a memory, remember where he was, and wish he could tear this place down like the biblical Sampson.

So now, John remained perfectly still, and did not open his eyes until he was sure that what he held in his arms, the sweet smell of Anna's hair and skin, was all real and not a teasing dream. Finally, he allowed himself to open his eyes.

Anna was there, her head on the place where his shoulder met his chest, her arm draped over his midriff, her body pressed to his side. She did not fade or disappear, and John smiled as he had not let himself smile for a very long time.

Remembering the request his wife had made of him the previous evening, John resisted the temptation to start kissing her mouth, her face, her neck, her bare shoulders, her entire body. He would let his love sleep, and in the meantime, he could do what he had been dreaming of doing for eight years: Savor the feeling of sharing a bed with the woman he loved.

Their rather hectic and energetic start to the reunion had made both of them forget to close the drapes to the window in their bedroom, which faced the east. The morning had barely any clouds in the sky, so the sun's light had no barriers on its way through the window. This made watching a still-sleeping Anna all the more wondrous for John. He watched the sun rise on her body, the ever-changing colors of the sunlight evolve from a soft blue white, to pink, to orange, to a final bright gold when the sun cleared the horizon, all across her beautiful fair skin.

As he watched this, John's hand gently worshiped her hair, so long and golden and soft. Finally being able to finally feel it between his fingers had been one of the highlights of the wedding night. Ever since he had first seen her hair in a simple braid when he had brought her a tray of food when she was sick, one of his most secret desires had been to sink his fingers into that hair and admire it fully. In the colors of the sunrise, it was made even more beautiful, if that were possible.

Yes, John was a very happy man to follow his wife's request. Now he could admire her beauty to the fullest extent, while she slept and was not self-conscious of herself, and therefore couldn't deny what was, to him, an indisputable fact.

After the sun had fully risen – John did not know how long after and did not care, since both were not required at Downton – Anna finally stirred and slowly woke up. She yawned, and John grinned at the adorable sight. Eventually, her eyes opened, revealing the beautiful blue irises that slowly cleared of sleep. He gaze met his, and she tentatively touched his cheek, making sure that this was not a dream. She realized it wasn't, and she smiled as happy tears filled her eyes.

John's expression mirrored his own. It was so hard, but so wonderful, to believe that, after so many cloudy days and terrible storms, their ship had, under a beautiful clear sky and sun, sailed home. There were only three words he could say, but they were more than enough:

"I love you."

Anna's smile widened, and returned his sentiments without words; when it came down to it, John and Anna didn't need them, and never really had.

For they were, are, and always would be something beautiful and completely natural:

_One._

**THE END**


End file.
